High School Students' Learning and Perceptions of Phylogenetics of Flowering Plants

Basic phylogenetics and associated "tree thinking" are often minimized or excluded in formal school curricula. Informal settings provide an opportunity to extend the K-12 school curriculum, introducing learners to new ideas, piquing interest in science, and fostering scientific literacy. S...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:CBE life sciences education 2014-12, Vol.13 (4), p.653-665
Main Authors: Bokor, Julie R, Landis, Jacob B, Crippen, Kent J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Biology
Botany - education
College School Cooperation
Concept Formation
Curriculum
Flowers
Genetics - education
High School Students
Humans
Immersion Programs
Information Science
Knowledge Level
Learner Engagement
Learning
Learning Modules
Mixed Methods Research
Models, Educational
Perception
Phylogeny
Plants (Botany)
Pretests Posttests
Program Development
Program Effectiveness
Program Evaluation
Schools
Scientific Concepts
Secondary School Science
STEM Education
Surveys
United States (Southeast)
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Basic phylogenetics and associated "tree thinking" are often minimized or excluded in formal school curricula. Informal settings provide an opportunity to extend the K-12 school curriculum, introducing learners to new ideas, piquing interest in science, and fostering scientific literacy. Similarly, university researchers participating in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach activities increase awareness of college and career options and highlight interdisciplinary fields of science research and augment the science curriculum. To aid in this effort, we designed a 6-h module in which students utilized 12 flowering plant species to generate morphological and molecular phylogenies using biological techniques and bioinformatics tools. The phylogenetics module was implemented with 83 high school students during a weeklong university STEM immersion program and aimed to increase student understanding of phylogenetics and coevolution of plants and pollinators. Student response reflected positive engagement and learning gains as evidenced through content assessments, program evaluation surveys, and program artifacts. We present the results of the first year of implementation and discuss modifications for future use in our immersion programs as well as in multiple course settings at the high school and undergraduate levels.
ISSN:1931-7913
1931-7913
DOI:10.1187/cbe.14-04-0074